October 19, 2016—The State of Cyber Security in Canada

Since the spring of 2014, the Senate Liberals have been opening doors to Canadians through our Open Caucus initiative. The goal of these meetings is to foster nonpartisan discussion on issues facing our country. We invite all parliamentarians, the public and the media to attend.

On October 19th, we invited you to join us in a discussion on the State of Cyber Security in Canada. Canada is one of the most digitized countries in the world with our online presence taking a primary role in our personal lives, business transactions, and governmental sectors. Canadians have come to rely on technology for the exchange of sensitive and private information. This reliance makes us susceptible to online threats from hacktivists, criminals, and foreign entities. Such targeted threats can have a range of impacts ranging from mental health issues to loss of finances to national security concerns.

To address this important topic we invited a panel of witnesses to discuss the current landscape of cyber security and what steps can be taken to make Canada a leader in the promotion and protection of online data.

Witnesses included:

David Murakami Wood: Canadian Research Chair for the Surveillance Studies Centre at Queens University

Claude A. Sarrazin: President of SIRCO

Bonnie Butlin: National Coordinator and Chair of the National Council of the Canadian Cybersecurity Alliance